New Delhi: South Korean steel major Posco has sought more time from the Centre for its over Rs 53,000 crore multi-product SEZ in Orissa, as it is yet to get adequate land from the state government.

An inter-ministerial Board of Approval (BoA), chaired by Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar, will consider the request from Posco's subsidiary Posco India Pvt Ltd on November 28, according to the papers circulated among different stakeholders.

The company had received in-principle approval from the BoA for setting up the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Jagatsinghpur. The in-principle clearance was valid till last month.

"The developer has requested for extending the validity further stating that Government of Orissa has leased 245.778 hectares of land. Environment Ministry on May 2, has accorded approval to Government of Orissa for diversion of 1,253 Ha of forest land. The forest land is likely to be leased by December, 2011," the papers said.

The SEZ has to come up on 1,620.49 hectare in in Orissa. In-principle approval was granted to the project in October 2009 which was subsequently extended till October 2011.

Besides Posco, 16 SEZ developers including those of Gitanjali Gems Ltd and Parsvnath SEZ Ltd, have asked for extension of time to execute their projects.

Four developers, including Dr Reddy's Laboratories BA Tech Park Pvt Ltd and City Gold Realties Pvt Ltd have approached the government for surrendering their SEZ projects.

While some have asked for de-notification their SEZs due to change in their business plans, others have cited reasons like imposition of minimum alternate tax (MAT).

" ...Due top MAT, companies are reluctant to shift their operations into a SEZ," an official said.

However, six promoters including Mundra Port and Kakinada SEZ Pvt Ltd have approached BoA to set up new zones.